


The Second Date Question

by ImmortalVal



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Awkward first dates, Civilian AU, Father!Gabriel, Gabriel is flustered and awkward, Jack is a ray of sunshine, Jack is also really understanding, Librarian AU, Librarian!Jack, M/M, Tbh the fic is more about how they meet, Young!McCree, idk how to tag shit im sorry yall, it's okay gabe, lots of italics im sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2016-11-20
Packaged: 2018-09-01 00:39:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8600296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImmortalVal/pseuds/ImmortalVal
Summary: "Do you know how to remove blood stains off of walls?"The question escapes Gabriel before he realizes it and his heart stops as his mind processes what he'd just fucking blurted out. The blond across from him has such a strong look of concern and vague curiosity that Gabriel already feels like he's descended into hell and below. Then the reply comes."Well... No, I don't think I do. Now, here's a question for you: was that really a smart question to ask on a first date?"





	

**Author's Note:**

> I hope no one's done this yet, I apologize if someone has.
> 
> Based on this [prompt:](http://fyotpprompts.tumblr.com/post/152211455659/character-a-question-do-you-know-how-to-get)  
> Character A: Question, Do you know how to get bloodstains off of walls?  
> Character B: No I don't. Here's a question for you. Do you really think that was an appropriate first date question?  
> Character A: No it's more of a second date question, but the conversation stalled and I panicked.
> 
> Also vaguely based on [Pfaerie's](http://pfaerie.tumblr.com/post/152216261798/librarian-jack-au) Librarian AU and [Nievia's](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8422162) fic bc I'm a sucker for these kinda things.
> 
> Warning : Not beta read nor did I proof read. My bad for any mistakes lmao--

**[ The Second Date Question ]**

 

**[ Present ]**

 

Gabriel shifts in his seat as he pulls at the collar of his shirt, the button down he's wearing feels like it's constricting around his throat as he gnaws at his lips trying to think of something to say. Something, anything, _just not nothing_. He hates to admit that it's been longer than he'd like since his last date; he's not known for being a people's person either, so this whole situation felt like a debacle. The man didn't want it to be, was the problem, he wanted to hit this off and charm the person across from him. Gabriel just _couldn't_ do it.

The male swept a hand through his curls in a smooth (he'd like to think it looked smooth) way, eyes shifting all over the place but never landing on his date. He wasn't sure how he even managed to convince this person, _John "Jack" Morrison_ , to agree to a date. Was it luck? Did he actually have charm? He wasn't sure but it's not like he can go back and check. The whole asking-him-out ordeal was a blur honestly. Everything that's happened with the bright blond man was a blur, even their meeting was a swirl of distracting thoughts and memories. Before he can help it, Gabriel's mind starts to wander.

 

* * *

 

**[ Gabriel Reminiscing In His Thoughts ]**

 

_It wasn't often that Gabriel Reyes frequented the library, he never had any need to and he never felt compelled to out of fun either. In the whole half a year they've lived in the town, the man's only visited the library once. The reason then was the exact same to the one that brought him to the building now: his son Jesse. Usually if the boy needed a book he'd borrow it from the school, their library vast with books to sate a 7 year old's needs. Sadly the school failed them this time, Jesse pleading with his father to visit the local library for the book he longed for. The book they were searching for was something about cowboys and Gabriel honestly wasn't surprised._

_Said man huffs as he grips his son's small hand within his grasp, taking a step into the library. His keys rattle in his pocket, the barely-used library card dangling on the key ring. The smell of musk, ink, and fraying old books waft to him. He does a quick inhale and tightens his grip on the hand in his, leading Jesse to where he assumes (remembers?) the children's section to be._

_"Do you remember what the book was called,_ hijo?" _Gabriel murmurs to his son, his voice rough and cracking from trying to keep quiet when he usually never was. The boy looks up at him, cowboy hat tipping up to reveal large brown eyes peeking out from strands of coarse brunet hair. Gabriel finds his usual frown slipping to a small smile, eyes softening as he returns the look. Jesse grins and gives the name of the book, a skip in his step as he continues with his father to the shelves and racks._

_The young cowboy-to-be slips his hand out of Gabriel's, pulling ahead as he throws a look over his shoulder, grin still in place. "I know how to look for it, papá! I'm a master at finding books, trust me!" And before the man can slip in a word, the boy is already zooming off to the small book shelves without falter or hesitation. Gabriel sighs and glances around, taking in the layout. The children's section is occupied by mini tables and chairs, the shelves were noticeably smaller than the ones in the rest of the library. Cute posters were littered about and a computer station nestles in a corner. Gabriel even notices an entrance to a kiddie bathroom on one of the walls, his eyebrow quirking in surprise (he doesn't remember it being there last time)._

_The male eyes the place for his son, his gaze falling on Jesse who's examining a book in his hands with clear intent, a tongue sticking out in concentration. Gabriel smiles again and lets the kid be, looking around for a nearby section for adults; one that was far enough away from the children but close enough to check in every once in awhile. He stays close to the edge of the aisle, plucking out a book at random, searching through it blankly. It's the historical nonfiction section and he's never had an interest in history and he doubts he'll find anything of interest now._

_With one hand he shuts the book, slipping it back into place as he does a quick glance to Jesse. Gabriel sighs in relief as he catches the boy surrounded by a pile of books at one of the mini tables. He looks back and slides further into the aisle, picking another book, eyebrows furrowed at the boring looking cover and droning title. He goes through a couple more books, all thinner compared to the first two he looked at. Nothing caught his interest. Feeling like what 10 minutes had passed, the quiet is interrupted. The man's caught off guard when he hears rustling of clothing and the sound of a book dropping to the floor, followed by an exasperated_ "Well damn."

_Gabriel prides himself in not jumping at the noise, his eyes coolly shifting to the source of the disturbance and he finds his heart caught in his throat._

_A blond man, well toned and well dressed (better dressed than most), stands a good distance away, eyebrows knit together in frustration as he balances 7 large books in his hold. Gabriel's gaze roves over him, bright blue eyes and golden hair make his heart pound; Gabe's eyes catch on muscled legs in slimming khaki pants, toned upper half in a white dress shirt covered by a pale blue button down cardigan. The blond shifts some of the books to rest on his hip as he puts others in certain places on the shelves. A stray book threatens to tip off of the pile. Gabriel doesn't know where the sudden increase in reflex comes from, but the next thing he knows he's stopping himself from stumbling into the stranger, the book caught in his hand._

_Gabriel reels back, feet trying to balance himself as he creates a distance between him and the blond. Eyes wide and book in hand, the dark skinned male shakes himself from the adrenaline and glances to the stranger, throat dry and words caught. The blond stares at him in surprise yet his eyes gleam looking somewhat impressed as he shifts to face Gabriel better. A bright smile from the blond threatens to blind Gabe, he finds himself squinting subconsciously. It takes a moment before he realizes he still has the book in his possession, fumbling as he holds the item out._

_"I-I didn't think I'd catch that in time." Gabriel admits, voice hoarse as he tries not to stumble with his words. His eyes slide away from the stranger, face reddening._

_The low, soothing voice emitting from the stranger catches him off guard. "And I didn't expect anyone to catch it at all, so thank you and well done." The blond gives a curt nod in appreciation, smile still in place as he takes the book back with a chuckle. "I usually don't find many folks under 60 in this section, especially not on the weekends." Mr. Blue Eyes hushes with a raise of a brow and a small smile on his lips, curiosity laced within his words._

_"Ah- yeah I ain't much of a historical guy. Just--" Gabriel pauses as he watches the stranger, watching for another stray book to take a dive. "Trying to pass time, I guess." He grumbles, arms crossing after flattening his hoodie out. "My son... he's on an_ _adventure_   _trying to find some books of his own in the kiddie's corner." The male adds roughly, hand coming up to rub at his neck._

_"Son?" The stranger repeats the word back, eyes softening as he finishes up with placing the books. "Is he the one with the cowboy get up?" Mr. Blondie inquiries with a hint of amusement, eyes glancing at Gabriel before he does a double check on the books, hands clasped together in front of his chest._

"Qué-- _wha-_   _how did you know?" Gabriel bites out, wary now. The other man turns to face him again, a subtle grin and look of knowing donning his features._

 _"I assumed because of the fact that he's the only child here at the moment." The stranger clarified, hands unclasping before rolling the sleeves of his cardigan up to his elbows. Gabriel's face flushes again, feeling embarrassed because_ _of-fucking-course. The other continues._   _"I helped him earlier, he's a sweet kid." He comments, looking off to where the children's section is. "His obsession with cowboys cute, albeit concerning in a way."_

_"Ain't that true." Gabriel murmurs in endearing exhaustion. "Don't know where the whole cowboy thing started anyway, I let him have his fun though." He says accompanied with a shrug. "So, I'm guessin' you work here, Mr...?" Gabe trails off, leaving room for the stranger to fill._

_"Oh! Yes, I do. I'm Jack Morrison, weekend librarian." Jack informs, the blinding smile slipped on his lips again, a hand held out for a greeting shake. "And you?"_

_"Nice meeting you,_ _Jack_ _." Gabriel lets the name roll off his tongue, his hand clapping against Jack's as he gives a firm shake. Warmth spreads through him. "Gabriel Reyes, tired father." He says in return, lips quirking up in a lopsided grin._

_"Pleasure to meet you, Gabriel." Jack pulls his hand back after the shake, a small laugh bubbling out of him; the sound making Gabriel's knees weak. "How about the weekend librarian and tired father go help out a little cowboy?" The blond suggests, already heading out of the aisle to find Jesse. Gabriel follows after him, eyes straining to stay on the nape of the other man's neck. He mumbles out an agreement before they make it to the children's section._

_Jesse's still occupied with his (growing) pile of books before he takes notice of the two men watching him. Eyes lighting up, the boy hops out of his seat and barrels over to them. "Papá! Mr. Morrison!" He calls out in glee, ramming into Gabriel's leg before throwing his arms around it, hugging as tight as he could. Gabriel smiles, his chest warm with affection as he pinches the child's cheek, unable to ruffle his hair due to the hat._

"Hola hijo _, did you find anything good?" The father hushes, watching as Jesse looks up at him, a grin spread across his face._

"Sí! _Mr. Morrison helped me find more books! There's so much stuff about cowboys that I didn't even know!" Jesse releases his father's leg and grapples onto Jack's instead, a thankful smile beamed up at the man. "Thank you!"_

_Gabriel hides a grin behind a hand as Jack flushes, eyes wide in surprise before he offers a polite and friendly smile. The blond rubs Jesse's back, giving it a pat for good measure. "It's no trouble, Jesse. I'm glad I could help. Why don't you show your dad what you're reading?" Jack pushes, unraveling the boy's arms from his leg to nudge him towards Gabriel._

_Jesse nods enthusiastically, grabbing his father's hand before tugging him over to the pile of books on the mini table. Gabriel follows with no resistance, eyes briefly looking back to see if Jack was joining them. He was. The father settles down on the floor next to Jesse's chair, watching his son take his seat as he picks up a couple of the books. The man smiles as he listens to the boy recall all the new facts he'd learn and all the books that Jack helped him gather._

_Said librarian sat on the other side of Jesse, flushing every time he was mentioned, a subtle smile on his face. After a while, when the boy finally tires from talking, Gabriel pulls himself up off the floor. He pats himself off before giving a light push to Jesse's head._

"Es el tiempo a dejamos, vaquero _. Why don't you put back the books that you're not taking?" Gabriel cuts off the whine from Jesse with a stern look, an eyebrow raised as if he's waiting to be challenged. His son falters before huffing as he grabs a couple of the books, heading off to place them back on the shelves. Gabriel sighs and crosses his arms, his gaze shifts to Jack who's slowly letting himself up._

_"Thank you for helping him today." The dark skinned man comments, eyes still on the blond who looks at him in slight surprise at the thanks. The surprise washes away and is replaced with a friendly grin, a hand waving dismissively._

_"It was fun helping him, it was no trouble, Gabriel." Jack lets out with a soft laugh, head tilting with eyes creased at the corners. "I'll be happy to help if we ever cross paths again." The blue eyed man says, shrugging nonchalantly before he glances to watch Jesse to make sure the books are put back in the right areas._

_Gabriel pauses before looking around and striding to the assistance desk close by. He takes a sticky note from the stack left by idly, quickly he scribbles down his phone number with a badly done doodle of himself winking. Gabriel takes the note and straightens out, clearing his throat before heading back to Jack. Jesse jumps over at the same time with a stack of books in hand; the boy waits for his father in excitement, if he had a tail it'd be wagging furiously._

_The father grins and nods to his son before looking back at Jack, a blush creeping up his neck and face. He's sure it's not too visible but he still feels embarrassed by it. Gabriel shakes himself off and pushes the note to Jack's chest, sticking it on his cardigan. The blond jumps at the action and Gabriel hurries his son to check out the books before Jack can give a comment. Jesse shouts a goodbye to Mr. Morrison and Gabriel mumbles a polite farewell._

_Gabriel rallies Jesse out of the library as quick as he can after checking the books out. They drive home as fast as he can go, his face still burning at the sticky note antic he'd done._ How fucking embarrassing and cheesy.  _The father backs up into their driveway and puts the car in park. He sits there for a good bit before he slumps his head on the steering wheel. The car's horn blares for a couple of seconds before Jesse's laughter is loud enough to drown the prolonged horn out. Gabriel finds himself smiling as he looks back at his son with a sheepish smile._

 _"_ Lo siento, vaquero. Papá está un idiota. _" Gabriel snorts out while unbuckling himself and exiting the car after cutting off the engine and removing his keys. He helps Jesse out of the car and watches his son fumble with the books, determined to bring them in on his own. Gabriel takes the role of spotter just in case as they carefully head to the door. The father unlocks the door and kicks away some stray shoes so that Jesse doesn't trip over them._

_A loud crash and a high pitched screech hit his ears, his eyes wide and his heart stops as he looks back. Jesse and the books are splayed on the ground, a small splat of blood covers the wall in front of the boy. His hat was strewn to the side._

"¡Mi corazón! ¿Estás dañar? Papá está aquí, mi sol." _Gabriel_   _soothed as he picked Jesse up, examining the boy carefully as he strokes his hair. Blood drips down his nose, the child's eyes scrunches in pain as he sniffles. Gabriel hurries to the bathroom and grabs the first aid kit from under the sink. He sits on the toilet lid and holds Jesse in his lap, tilting his head forward as he places a tissue to his nose. "Are you hurt, chico? Is it only your nose that hurts?" Gabriel asks in a quiet whisper, wiping away the blood as he checks for bruises._

_Jesse shakes his head, flinching away from the touches. "I'm okay, papá. My nose just hurts and it tastes like metal." The child says with a swallow. Gabriel quickly checks to see if he had knocked any teeth out but was relieved to find that the blood in his mouth was just from his nose. Quickly, the man finishes with patching his son up, pressing a kiss to his forehead as he gets up with the boy in his arms. He leaves the kit behind and plops down on the couch in the living room, leaning back to let Jesse rest comfortably against him. Gabriel hums a soft tune, stroking his boy's hair softly._

 

* * *

 

** [ Present ] **

 

Gabriel snaps out of it, his gaze shooting all over the place unsure of what was happening. The present slowly comes back to him and he looks at Jack who looks at him with slight worry. Gabriel freezes and clears his throat as he feels a bead of sweat slip down his neck. Jack quirks an eyebrow at his date, amused by how flustered and awkward he seems to be at the moment. The blond just smiles reassuringly at him, striking blue eyes soft and calm inducing. Gabriel feels himself relax for a moment before his mind starts going 80 mph trying to figure out how to cut the silence. He wracks at his thoughts, trying to find something, _anything--_

"Do you know how to remove blood stains off of walls?"

The question escapes Gabriel before he realizes it and his heart stops as his mind processes what he'd just fucking blurted out. More strands of sweat slide down his forehead and neck. Gabe hopes he doesn't look as panicked as he feels on the inside. The blond across from him has such a strong look of concern and vague curiosity that Gabriel already feels like he's descended into hell and below. Jack searches the other man quietly for a moment, each second feels like agony to Gabriel. _Then the reply comes._

"Well... No, I don't think I do. Now, here's a question for you: was that _really_ a smart question to ask on a first date?" Jack teases, letting out a soft snort as he tries to hold in his laughter. Gabriel watches him, his own eyes wide and his dark skin flushed. He ducks his head sheepishly, a crooked and anxious smile on his lips as he watches Jack.

"You're right, it's more of a second date question, huh? Guess I fucked up there." Gabriel spills out, unable to catch his words before they escape him. 

There's a moment of silence before a quick inhale and Jack's laughter bubbles right up; it fills the silence as he raises a shaky hand to cover his mouth. The blond's shoulders rumble from the laughter, a tear or two slips from the corner of his eyes. Gabriel grins wider, feeling better as he joins in with his own laughter, his whole body feeling warmth as he continues to watch Jack adoringly. 

The blond man wheezes for a second and grips the table, he looks at Gabriel from where his head is bowed. Jack tries to compose himself, his face his red from the laughter, his eyes watery and body still shaking in the slightest way. Gabriel takes in how wrecked the other man is and marvels at how it's all just from laughing and because of Gabriel's shitty ability to make conversation. It still flares some kind of accomplishment within him, though. 

"You're quite the man, Gabriel." Jack says between breaths as he's just now coming down from his high. He flashes a bright grin to the dark skinned man, making his heart thump and his chest flood with warmth and infatuation. Oh the things Gabe would do just to see that smile, just to hear the bubbly laughter. 

Gabriel picks up his water and takes a sip, looking at Jack over the rim of the cup. "I'm taking that as a good thing, _cariño_." 

"You should." Jack says with a smile, taking a swig of his own water. He lets out a relaxed sigh, placing the cup down before throwing a sneaky grin to the man across from him. "Let's pretend you never asked that question and maybe on our second date you'll get a more helpful answer when you ask it again."

Gabriel chokes on his water, eyes wide as he looks at the shit eating grin the bright blue eyed man is throwing at him. Gabe composes himself and flashes a smirk back accompanied a wink. _"La próxima vez será mucho mejor, mi amor rubio_."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hope y'all liked it, I haven't written a fic in years so this was a nice change of pace for me.
> 
> Hopefully my interpretation of these guys was aight, I'll probably be doing more shit to get a better grasp of 'em. This will be a oneshot for now but if people request for a chapter fic or a series then I can try to roll one out, I've got a lot on my mind for the AU lol.
> 
> I don't speak spanish fluently so I'm sorry if the translations are iffy, please correct any if they're wrong. 
> 
> Translations:  
> • Hijo - Son  
> • Papá - Dad/Father  
> • Es el tiempo a dejamos, vaquero. - It's time to leave, cowboy.  
> • Lo siento, vaquero. Papá es ser un idiota. - I'm sorry, cowboy. Papa is being an idiot.  
> • ¡Mi corazón! ¿Estás dañar? Papá está aquí, mi sol. - My heart! Are you hurt? Papa is here, my sun.  
> • Cariño - Sweetheart  
> • La próxima vez será mucho mejor, mi amor rubio. - Next time will be much better, my blond love.


End file.
